“Yeah? Could have fooled me, Your Majesty,” Ajax replied, executing a mock bow.
“Ugh, why am I partnered with you again?” she demanded.
“Because your friends didn’t want to fight you today. You’re too moody for them.” He folded his arms. “So are you going to try to hit me or what? I’m getting bored over here.”
Emelyn charged him with a roar that made me wince.
Moody was an understatement.
She had Ajax flat on his back in less than a second, his expression registering shock, which quickly morphed into determination as he wrestled her across the ground in several skilled maneuvers.
“I don’t know how to do that,” I admitted, watching him twist and pin her. But Emelyn wasn’t one to be outdone. She had him in a headlock two moves later, causing my eyebrows to shoot up.
Shade yanked me backward, away from their violent game, and drew me around to face him. “Then show me what you know how to do.”
“Earth Fae don’t fight,” I told him. “There’s no need.”
He gave me a look that said he wasn’t impressed. “I know Zeph’s been training you.”
“Yeah, mostly with magic.”
“And I’ve seen you and Ella spar, so I know you’re learning how to fight,” he added, undeterred.
“Okay, she’s shown me a few things, but—”
“Show me what you’ve learned,” he interjected. “No excuses. I need to know what I’m dealing with here.”
“Why did you want to spar?” I asked him, deflecting. “You rarely talk to me during class. I mean, you barely even acknowledge me in Death Class, and we’re partners in that one. Why today? Why now?”
He cocked his head to the side. “I’m tired of giving you space. You’re mine and I want to play. Now stop deflecting and give me a preview of your abilities. Then we’ll go from there.”
“I gave you a preview that first time you bit me.”
“Yeah, and you played with your elements and still lost,” he replied, unimpressed. “Now you have that collar around your neck hampering your abilities. Which makes this class a lot more important than you seem to realize.”
“Why? Because you’re anticipating I may need to fight you off again soon?” I countered.
He swept his leg across my knees, sending me to the ground on a whoosh of air. I coughed and sputtered as he landed on top of me, his hands easily capturing my wrists to bring them above my head as his hips pinned mine to the black grass below.
Not green, but black.
Like all the other vegetation in this realm.
“I’m anticipating that you’re going to need to fight others,” he whispered against my ear. “And soon. So I need you to stop flirting with me and actually pay attention, Aflora.”
“I’m not flirting with you,” I managed to say on a harsh exhale, my back throbbing from his unexpected attack. “I think… I think I hate you.”
He chuckled and pressed a kiss to my jaw, then drew his lips to my ear. “Best me and I’ll make you come later.”
I snorted at the offer. “Did that when I woke up, so I’m good, thank you.”
Only after I uttered the words did I realize what I’d just admitted out loud. My cheeks heated as Shade went to his elbows on either side of my head, his lips curled in amusement. “Yeah? And did you scream my name?”
“Get off of me.”
“Not until you detail the experience for me,” he replied, his wicked gaze falling to my mouth. “Did you think of me?”
“I’m not talking about this.”